Chapter IV

Does the Active Life continue after this Life?

S. Gregory says[428]: "The active life passes away with this present world; the contemplative life begins here so as to be perfected in our heavenly home."

As already said, the active life makes its end consist in external actions, and these, if they are directed towards the repose of contemplation, already belong to the contemplative life. But in the future life of the blessed all occupation with external things will cease; or if there are any external acts they will be directed towards that end which is contemplation. Hence S. Augustine says, at the close of his _Of the City of God_: "There we shall be at rest from toil, we shall gaze, we shall love, we shall praise." And he had just previously said: "There will God be seen unendingly, be loved without wearying, be praised without fatigue; this duty, this disposition of soul, this act, will be the lot of all."[429]

Some, however, maintain that the active life will be continued after this life, thus:

1. To the active life belong the acts of the moral virtues. But the moral virtues remain after death, as S. Augustine says.[430]

But the acts of the moral virtues which are concerned with the
means to the end will not remain after death, but only those
which have to do with the end itself. Yet it is precisely these
latter which go to form the repose of contemplation to which S.
Augustine alludes in the above-quoted passage where he speaks of
being "at rest from toil"; and this "rest" is not to be
understood of freedom from merely external disturbances, but
also from the internal conflict of the passions.

2. Again, to teach others pertains to the active life. But in the next life--where we shall be as the Angels--there can be teaching; for we see it in the case of the Angels of whom one illumines, clarifies, and perfects another, all of which refer to their reception of knowledge, as is clear from Denis the Areopagite.[431] Hence it seems that the active life is to be continued after this life.

But the contemplative life especially consists in the
contemplation of God; and as regards this no Angel teaches
another, for it is said of the Angels of _the little
ones_[432]--Angels who are of an inferior choir--that _they
always see the face of the Father_. And similarly in the future
life: there no man will teach another about God, for we shall
all _see Him as He is_.[433] And this agrees with the words of
Jeremias[434]: _And they shall teach no more every man his
neighbour ... saying: Know the Lord; for all shall know Me from
the least of them even to the greatest._

But when it is question of dispensing the mysteries of God, then
one Angel can teach another by clarifying, illumining, and
perfecting. And in this sense the Angels do in some sort share
in the active life as long as this world lasts, for they are
occupied with ministering to the inferior creation. This is what
was signified by Jacob's vision of the Angels ascending the
ladder--whereby was meant the contemplative life--and descending
the ladder--whereby was meant the active life. At the same time,
as S. Gregory says[435]: "Not that they so went out from the
Divine Vision as to be deprived of the joys of contemplation."
And thus in their case the active life is not distinguished from
the contemplative as it is in us who find the works of the
active life an impediment to the contemplative life. Moreover,
we are not promised a likeness to the Angels in their work of
administering to the inferior creation, for this does not belong
to us according to our nature, as is the case with the Angels,
but according to our vision of God.

3. Lastly, the more durable a thing is the more capable it seems of lasting after this life. But the active life is more durable than the contemplative, for S. Gregory says[436]: "We can remain steadfast in the active life, but in nowise can we maintain the mind's fixed gaze in the contemplative life." Consequently the active life is much more capable of continuing after death than is the contemplative life.

But in our present state the durability of the active life as
compared with the contemplative life does not arise from any
feature of either of these kinds of life considered in
themselves, but from a defect on our part; for we are dragged
down from the heights of contemplation by the body's burden. And
thus S. Gregory goes on to say that, "thrust back by its very
weakness from those vast heights, the soul relapses into
itself."

"O bless our God, ye Gentiles: and make the voice of His praise
to be heard. Who hath set my soul to live: and hath not suffered
my feet to be moved. For Thou, O God, hast proved us; Thou hast
tried us by fire, as silver is tried. Thou hast brought us into
a net, Thou hast laid afflictions on our back; Thou hast set men
over our heads. We have passed through fire and water, and Thou
hast brought us out into a refreshment."[437]

FOOTNOTES:

[407] _Of the Supreme Good_, III., xv.

[408] _Qu._ CLXXIX. 1.

[409] _Ethics_, II., iv. 3.

[410] _Ibid._, X., viii. 1.

[411] _Hom._ XIV., _On Ezechiel_.

[412] _Ethics_, V., i. 15.

[413] _Hom._ XIV., _On Ezechiel_.

[414] Ecclus. xli. 1-6.

[415] _Ethics._, X., viii. 2.

[416] _Ibid._, V., ii. 4.

[417] _Ethics_, VI., v. 4.

[418] _Ibid._, X., viii. 2.

[419] _De Officiis_, I., v.

[420] _Hom._ XIV., _On Ezechiel_.

[421] _Conjuratio Catilinae_, li.

[422] _Of the City of God_, xix. 2, 3, and 19.

[423] Job xxxi. 14, 23.

[424] _Hom._ XIV., _On Ezechiel_.

[425] _On the Words of the Lord, Sermon_ civ., _alias_ xxvii. 1.

[426] _Hom._ V., _On Ezechiel_.

[427] _Metaphysics_, I., i. 9.

[428] _Hom._ XIV., _On Ezechiel_.

[429] xxii. 30.

[430] _On the Trinity_, xiv. 9.

[431] _Of the Heavenly Hierarchy_, vii.

[432] S. Matt. xviii. 10.

[433] 1 John iii. 2.

[434] xxxi. 34.

[435] _Moralia in Job_, ii. 2.

[436] _Hom._ V., _On Ezechiel_.

[437] Ps. lxv. 8-12.

QUESTION CLXXXII

OF THE COMPARISON BETWEEN THE ACTIVE AND THE CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE

I. Is the Active Life preferable to the Contemplative?
Cardinal Cajetan, On Preparation for the Contemplative Life
S. Augustine, _Confessions_, X., xliii. 70
" _On Psalm_ xxvi.
II. Is the Active Life more Meritorious than the Contemplative?
III. Is the Active Life a Hindrance to the Contemplative Life?
Cardinal Cajetan, On the True Interior Life
S. Augustine, _Sermon_, CCLVI., v. 6
IV. Does the Active Life precede the Contemplative?